Support systems of the old in a rural community in Thailand

Description

The ageing of populations is an emerging demographic
phenomenon for many Third World countries. This
exploratory study of support systems of the old in Thailand
applies integrative methods for conducting social research.
Information collected included quantitative data such as
field censuses and surveys and unpublished public health
statistics. Qualitative information included participant
observation, case studies, oral histories and in-depth and
focus group discussions. These various...[Show more] research techniques
were blended together into a field study design.
The study finds that societal change has dramatically
affected the village domestic farming cycle and communal
interdependencies which had existed in the recent past.
Old people now receive less act ive and social support, and,
with monetization of the countryside are very dependent on
their children's remittances . The study places emphasis on
the relationship between adult children, as the main
supporters, and the old as the key issue in analysing
support, rather than on purely statistical proportions of
the ageing of the population.